The present invention relates to an athletic training device, and more particularly to a device that simulates the movements of a basketball player, for training basketball players to shoot or pass a basketball over a defender who is blocking the player's shots. The device is useful in other sports as well.
The prior art discloses several basketball training devices that can block or interfere with the jumping or shooting movements of a basketball player.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,749 discloses a shot-blocking device which comprises a life-size figure with four rotatably driven "arms" projecting outward from the figure which can be rotated in either direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,921 discloses a device which comprises a representation of an opposing player and a device which moves the representation up and down to simulate jumping.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,108 discloses a mechanical hand which is mounted to a headband to block a player's view while shooting.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,808 discloses a cage-like structure with arm members extending from the inside of the cage to obstruct a player's jumping and shooting movements.
None of the disclosed devices is capable of easily being moved laterally to follow a player who is moving around the basket. Instead, they are essentially stationary devices that can only be moved awkwardly. Nor do they have any means for keeping the device in a position between the player and the basket. Because of these drawbacks, the known devices have only limited usefulness for training a basketball player under realistic playing conditions.